Jar type reamer



April 30, 1957 H, w, PATE ETAL, 2,790,623

JAR TYPE REAMER Filed 001;. 21, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l2 ff at @l m INVENTORS.

A T TORNEY April 30, 1957 H. w. PATE ET AL JAR TYPE REAMER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 21, 1953 .4 T TOPNEY United States Patent 9 f JAR TYPE REAMER Hamp W. Pate and Fred B. Wallace, Maysville, Okla.

Application October 21, 1953, Serial No. 387,400

1 Claim. (Cl. 25527) The present invention relates to the art of oil field rotary drilling tools, and more particularly to a reamer for enlarging portions of a drilled hole.

In drillin an oil well with conventional rotary tools, the bit tends to go downward in a spiral manner instead of straight down as is desired, thus making bends or curves as the hole is deepened. This spiral action is due to the rotary bit encountering hard and soft layers of strata in the earth. After the drill bit has reached a considerable depth the drill pipe rotating against the side of the drilled hole wears a slot or groove in the earth the size of the drill pipe, which is smaller than the hole made by the drill bit. This slot or groove is called a key-seat. When the driller starts to pull the drill pipe out of the hole, the drill collars wedge in a key-seat and sticks" the drill pipe in the hole, and causes considerable difliculty in pulling the drill pipe. The present invention is designed to eliminate this trouble.

The prime object of the present invention is to provide a reaming device for reaming key-seats in drilled holes.

Another object is to provide a reaming device that may be rotated with the drill pipe.

Another object is to provide a reaming device with ratchet-type driving jaws for eliminating a back lash when a heavy torque is placed on the drill string while the reaming device is stuck in a key-seat.

Another object is to provide a reaming device that rides free in the hole while the drill bit is going down.

Still another object is to provide a reaming device that may be jarred loose from a key-seat.

A further object is to provide a reaming device that may be run as an integral part of a conventional drilling string.

A still further object is to provide a reaming device of one moving part and may be easily manufactured.

Yet another object is to provide a reaming device in which all parts, including the moving part, form one integral unit.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying two sheets of drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device and showing in dotted lines a fragment of drill pipe connected to its upper and lower ends respectively.

Figure 2 is a perspective view similar to Figure 1, showing the body of the device rotated ninety degrees.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in those figures of the drawings in which they occur.

In the drawings:

Reference numeral 1 indicates, as a whole, a jar-type reaming device connected to a string of drill pipe.

Reference numerals 2 and 3 indicate in dotted lines, a fragment of a drill stem, not shown.

2,790,623 Patented Apr. 30, 1957 The invention, per se, consists of: an elongated centrally bored body 10, preferably of one piece of metal, having at its upper end a conventional threaded box 11 for engaging and holding the pin end of a drill stem 2, and having at its lower end a conventional threaded pin 12 for engaging and holding a box of a drill stem 3. The purpose of the central bore 13 through the body 10, is to allow circulation of fluid through the drill pipe and the device. The body 10 has an exteriorly circumferentially reduced longitudinal portion 14 intermediate its ends, leaving at the upper and lower ends respectively of the body 10 two collar-like ends 16 and 18. The upper end of the reduced portion 14 ends against a horizontal shoulder 15 perpendicular to the body 10. The lower end of the reduced portion 14 has a gripping shoulder 17, slightly larger circumferentially than the end 18, extending laterally with the body 10 and ending with the beveled edge 17A. The face of the shoulder 17 has two depending spiral guide faces 19 and 19A, perpendicular to the body 10, ending abruptly at their lower ends in two vertical faces 20 and 21 forming two upwardly projecting ratchet-type jaws 22 and 23, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, for the purposes more fully explained hereinbelow.

A longitudinal tubular sleeve 24, with its periphery equal to the periphery of the shoulder 17, has a bore 25 slightly larger than the periphery of the reduced portion 14, and has a length less than the length of the reduced portion 14, and is slidably mounted thereon. The upper end of the sleeve 24 has a horizontal fiat face 26, perpendicular to the sleeve 24. The lower end of the sleeve 24 has two upwardly projecting left hand helical cuts or guide faces 27 and 28 through the wall of the sleeve 24. These end abruptly at their upper ends in two oppositely disposed vertical faces 29 forming a pair of oppositely disposed downwardly projecting ratchet-type jaws 31 for co-acting with the jaws 22 and 23 to rotate the sleeve 24 as the body 10 is rotated to the right. One face 29 is seen in Fig. 2, cut through the wall of the sleeve 24 defining one of the downwardly projecting ratchet-type jaws 31, as is seen in Fig. 2, for positive engagement with one of the jaws 22 or 23. The sleeve 24 may be placed on the reduced portion 14 by cutting it longitudinally, not shown, in one or more places, and welding, preferably, the cuts together, forming one integral unit after the sleeve 2d is slidably in place on the reduced portion 10. A selected number of spaced-apart ribs 32 are formed on the periphery of the sleeve 24 and project outwardly therefrom a selected distance. As shown more clearly in Fig. 4, the configuration of each rib 32 is such that it has a broad base at the point of juncture with sleeve 24 and has slanting sides which converge outwardly from the wall of the sleeve 24 and end in a substantially flat face. Some of the ribs 32 are helically formed or wound on the sleeve upwardly to the right from the bottom end, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, for the purposes more fully explained hereinbelow. The ribs 32 may be formed separately from the sleeve 24 and welded thereto, not shown, if desired. The ribs 32 are preferably case hardened to prevent excessive wear.

In operation the device is placed in the drill pipe string, not shown, just above the drill collars. When the drill pipe is started out of the hole, the sleeve 24 will wedge in the first key-seat encountered, as described above. The drill pipe may then be lowered until the shoulder 15 of the body 10 meets the face 25 of the sleeve 2 This jarring action, made by alternately raising and lowering the drill pipe the length of longitudinal play of the reduced portion 14 within the sleeve 24, will disengage the sleeve 24 from contact with the key-seat. Then the drill pipe is rotated to the right, as is conventional, and shown by the arrows in Fig. 1, and the jaws 31 of the sleeve 24 are engaged by the jaws 22 and 23 of the shoulder 17 and rotate the sleeve 24 as the drill pipe is gradually pulled up the hole and the ribs 32 ream out the key-seat large enough to allow the passage of the drill collars and the drill bit.

When a key-seat is encountered in upward movement of the drill pipe the ribs 32 of the sleeve 24 tend to rotate the sleeve in a counter-clockwise direction engaging the ratchet jaws which holds the sleeve stationary, and in a soft formation, the ribs being spirally wound around the sleeve ream the hole to the desired size by the longitudinal movement of the sleeve. When the key-seat is formed in a hard formation and the sleeve 24 becomes stuck in the key-seat, downward jarring of the shoulder 15 against the face 26 causes the sleeve to move downwardly and rotate clockwise as the ribs 32 follow the groove formed in the wall of the formation as the sleeve was pulled upwardly into the key-seat. An additional purpose for helically winding the ribs 32 in the direction shown, is to keep them from biting into the formation as the sleeve is rotated to the right and pulled up the hole with the drill pipe. Positioning the ribs in this manner causes a downward thrust upon the sleeve as the ribs are rotated against a key-seat, which helps prevent sticking the sleeve within the key-seat.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to some change or alteration without defeating its practicability, and we therefore do not wish to be confined to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and described herein, further than we are limited by the scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

A jar type reaming device for engaging and enlarging key-seats formed by drill pipe in a well bore, comprising: an elongated centrally bored body threaded at its upper and lower ends for connecting a drill string, said body having a circumferentially reduced portion intermediate its ends forming an upper shoulder adjacent the upper end portion of said body having a downwardly presented circumferential plane surface, said body having a circumferentially enlarged shoulder adjacent the lower end of said reduced portion, the upper surface of said lower enlarged shoulder being provided with diametrically disposed teeth each provided with a vertically extending surface and a helical cam surface extending circumferentially to meet the oppositely disposed vertical surface, the entire upper surface of said enlarged shoulder being thereby provided with a pair of upwardly projecting ratchet jaws, each having an adjacent upwardly presented guiding face; and a sleeve rotatably and slidably mounted on the reduced portion of said body, the length of said sleeve being less than the length of said reduced portion, the diameter of said sleeve being substantially equal with relation to the diameter of said enlarged shoulder, said sleeve having a circumferential plane upper end surface adapted to contact said upper shoulder upon movement of said body relative to said sleeve to provide a jarring action on said sleeve, said sleeve having a plurality of longitudinal helically wound ribs on its periphery for imparting a counter-clockwise rotation and a downward thrust to said sleeve upon engagement with the wall of a key-seat by the upward movement of said body, said ribs having tapered outwardly converging sides, the lower end surface of said sleeve being provided with a pair of teeth complemental to the teeth on said lower enlarged shoulder for engagement therewith to impart rotation of said body to said sleeve for reaming a key-seat when said body is raised and rotated clockwise.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,572,839 McClinton Oct. 30, 1951 2,665,887 Shelton Jan. 12, 1954 2,717,764 Cannon Sept. 13, 1955 

